The Common Ills

February 22, 2010

Well, I do not think I can tell you
anything new about what we did in Iraq, but I can perhaps say something
about what the Iraqis are doing themselves. The
Middle East is badly in need of democratic examples. In the modern age,
it cannot be that an entire region is essentially without democratic
governments with very, very few exceptions. Iraq
has been one of the worst tyrannies of the 21st century. That the
Iraqis might be able to make their transition to democracy from their
terrible tyranny that was there; but they might be able to do it in a
multi-ethnic, multi-confessional society with Sunnis, Shia, Kurds and
others all working together in a democratic institutions. That
will be new in the Middle East; and, there are some signs that they are
doing precisely that and they have a long way to go and we are all
holding our breath for the elections in March, that they will be open
and fair and that all people would be represented. But
when I look at the campaign that is going on there, when I look at the
brutal criticisms of their own government and other governments, I
think they have quickly taken to some of the most important habits of
democracy, which is not to be fearful of your own government.

That’s Condi Rice, still not getting it Abuja, quoted by Sufuyan Ojeifo (This Day).
Condi No One Could Have Guessed Rice still doesn’t get it. She thinks
democracy has taken hold in Iraq? What kind of idiot is she? The
smartest thing she could do is just stop speaking in public. No one
needs to hear from her, no one wants to her from her unless it’s on the
witness stand as she’s tried for her role in War Crimes. The woman
still has no clue. The only thing more ludicrous than Condi Rice are
idiots like Rachel Maddow shoring up War Criminal Colin Powell and his
flunky. There should no rehabilitation for the War Criminals. Isaiah‘s "The ‘Fashionable’ Conoleeza de Vil" from June 22, 2005.

The
blood of the dead drips from her. She needs to take her lying ass and
sit it down, there is no need to hear from her again until her death
bed confession.

And it’s not as though she has anything to
offer. She’s still lying. Iraq’s falling apart, there’s no chance in
the world at "fair and free" elections there currently but she just
can’t stop lying.

The illegal war started in March 2003 and it continues. Mike Clary (Florida Sun Sentinel) reports
that Florida National Guard members have completed their training in
Texas and will be deploying to Iraq next week and "there is a
seriousness of purpose among these men – and about 20 women – in the
battalion, part of yearlong deployment of 2,500 members of the 53rd
Combat Brigade. That represents the largest deployment of Florida
National Guard troops since World War II." Jodi Baker (WOWT — link has text and video option) reports on the over 700 members of the Nebraska National Guard who are preparing to deploy in the summer to Iraq or Afghanistan. John Tompkins (The Facts) reports
on Ryan McDonald’s preparing for Iraq deployment in a few weeks with
McDonald explaining that right now, "I’m just visiting with my family
as much as I can." Bryan Horwatch (Dunn County News) reports
that Mary Lemke’s three sons — 19-year-old Lance Lemke, 21-year-old
Greg Lemke, Jr. and 27-year-old Curtis Anderson — are gearing up for
deployment to Iraq along with other members of the Wisconsin Army
National Guard.

A convoy of armored vehicles, led by a pickup marked as an Iraqi police vehicle rolled into view.Role-players
dressed as Iraqi citizens, some of whom actually are expatriots, talked
excitedly and motiioned to the convoy with fruits, rugs and other wares
for sale.A sudden explosion
from an improvised explosive device threw the scene into action as
troops opened fire on insurgents in the staged training exercise.Fittingly
called ambush training, it was all part of the drill for Guard troops
preparing for a variety of duties in a deployment likely to last about
400 days.

CNN, AP and Iran’s Press TV report on yesterday’s helicopter crash which claimed the lives of 2 US service members. The Hillsboro Journal-News reports
that Sgt Heath Theriac was injured serving in Basra on Sunday, February
14th along with a "Sgt. Simmons" from an explosion "which struck each
of the humvees the men riding in as gunners."

And Condi wants to
pretend she and her ilk accomplished a damn thing? She wants to pretend
she ‘gifted’ freedom when all she did was start a never-ending blood
bath? And she wants to lie the same way she lied while Secretary of
State that things are going swimmingly? In this morning’s Washington Post, Jackson Diehl offers a take on those wonderful elections Condi’s so jazzed over and who is one of the prime moves in them:

First
among these is Iran, which has a simple strategy for the coming months:
Turn the elections into a bitter sectarian battle — and thereby ensure
that the next government will be led by its hard-line Shiite allies.To
an alarming extent, the campaign is succeeding. Tehran’s leading agent,
as both Hill and Odierno noted, is Ahmed Chalabi, a Shiite who in 2002
played a major role in persuading the Bush administration to go to war.
Now he has managed to have hundreds of candidates eliminated from the
election on the mostly bogus grounds that they were or are loyalists of
Saddam Hussein’s Baath party. His targets are not just Sunni leaders
but secular nationalists — the two most important banned candidates
are leading members of cross-sectarian alliances. The success of those
tickets would be a triumph for Iraqi democracy — and a huge setback
for Iran.Chalabi aims to
become prime minister of the next government, which would be a disaster
for Iraq and for Washington. And worse outcomes are possible. Also
angling for power are Bayan Jabr, a Shiite who oversaw the interior
ministry when it was infamous for torture and death squads; and Ibrahim
Jaafari, who as prime minister oversaw the eruption of the sectarian
war of 2006-07.

But don’t worry, Condi’s constituency
was Big Business, not the Iraqi people and Big Business cleaned up
good. For example, GE announced a $200 million contract just last week:

BAGHDAD, IRAQ — February 17, 2010 — GE
(NYSE:GE) today announced the signing of contracts totaling
approximately US$200 million to supply power generation equipment and
services for two independent power projects in the Kurdistan region of
Northern Iraq. The two projects will help support the region’s current
and future power needs and the country’s overall efforts to develop its
energy infrastructure.

Located
in the Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah provinces of Kurdistan, both projects are
being developed by Mass Global Investment Company, a leading developer
of independent power plants. When the new projects are completed, it is
expected that the total electricity capacity of Mass Global-developed
power plants in the Kurdistan region will reach 1,750 megawatts, to
help meet the increasing power demand.

GE
will supply four Frame 9E gas turbine-generator units for the
500-megawatt, simple-cycle power plant in Dohuk; and two Frame 9E gas
turbine-generator units to add 250 megawatts of capacity to the plant
in Sulaimaniyah, for a total generating capacity of 750 megawatts. The
two plants are scheduled to enter commercial service in the second half
of 2010.

"These
two projects are the latest in a series of independent power projects
we are developing to help cover the shortage of power within the
Kurdistan region. They also support the Kurdistan regional government’s
initiative for the private sector to help meet the energy requirements
in this region," said Ahmad Ismail, chairman of Mass Global.

"Today’s
announcement for the two private power projects in the Kurdistan region
reflects GE’s continuing commitment to support energy infrastructure
growth in Iraq and builds on our recent power generation agreements
with the government of Iraq. This latest agreement also builds on our
growing relationship with Mass Global to support their efforts to add
much-needed electricity generation capacity in the Northern region of
the country," said Joseph Anis, GE Energy’s president for the Middle
East.

Over
the last four years, GE has supplied gas turbines for independent power
projects developed by Mass Global in the Kurdistan region, which would
help to add approximately 1,000 megawatts of generating capacity.

The
latest contracts with Mass Global follow an announcement in 2008 that
GE will supply the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity with power generation
equipment for projects throughout Iraq that will help to add
approximately 7,600 megawatts of electricity to support the country’s
future economic growth.

GE
has a long history of supporting Iraqi infrastructure needs in power
generation, oil and gas, water processing, aviation and healthcare and
over 120 GE power turbines are installed in the country today.

As
the world’s leading supplier of gas turbines, GE is well positioned to
help Iraq with its future needs for reliable and stable power
generation. More than 6,000 GE gas turbines are installed worldwide and
have accumulated more than 200 million of operating experience at high
reliability levels. GE’s Frame 9 gas turbines, which will be used for
the Iraqi projects, have demonstrated high reliability and performance
in more than 450 applications around the world.

GE
has been active in the Middle East since the 1930s and has management
and project management offices as well as local repair and service
facilities to serve customers throughout the region.

About GE

GE
is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company
that’s built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water,
transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves
customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000
people worldwide.

GE
serves the energy sector by developing and deploying technology that
helps make efficient use of natural resources. With 60,000 global
employees and 2009 revenues of US$37 billion, GE Energy www.ge.com/energy
is one of the world’s leading suppliers of power generation and energy
delivery technologies. The businesses that comprise GE Energy—GE Power
& Water, GE Energy Services and GE Oil & Gas—work together to
provide integrated product and service solutions in all areas of the
energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy;
renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other
alternative fuels.

For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.ge.com GE is imagination at work.